Capital Campaign

Join the Kandu Capital Campaign

Kandu transforms the lives of people who have many different barriers to employment. From the recovering alcoholic to the person with a physical disability…from someone with a poor work history to the mother on welfare…Kandu opens its arms to everyone who wants to change their life through work.

Kandu provides employment and job-related services to over 1200 people each year. Requests for help have grown 12% per year since 2002. And there is no other resource in Ottawa County that provides work opportunities to people with barriers to employment.

Without the resources of Kandu, people who are currently earning a wage and doing useful work would be on welfare. Without Kandu, parents would face extraordinarily difficult decisions about how to care for and develop children with physical or emotional disabilities.

Not only is the demand increasing, but the work has changed as well. The work that's available today is substantially different than the work that was available 5-10 years ago. The work load itself also fluctuates. Until very recently, Kandu operated two facilities – one in Grand Haven and one in Holland . So people and materials were constantly shuttled back and forth to level the work load and meet customer expectations. This created enormous complexity for the business. It also affected the client-employees…who either rode back and forth, or remained idle.

Kandu has actively changed to meet these demands. However, the Kandu facilities were a major hurdle standing in the way of adaptation and growth. So the Board determined that it was time to consolidate operations.

The Board chose an existing commercial facility, built originally as a warehouse. It provided an excellent foundation, but did require adaptation for Kandu's use. The build-out plans called for the addition of a lunchroom and cafeteria, bathrooms, training rooms, office space, and additional parking.

The quick sale of the two existing buildings prompted a move into the new facility faster than was originally anticipated. Much of the work had to be done prior to move-in so that the space could be productive. However, there is still a great deal to be done in order to finish the original plans. This includes the patio, the landscaping, the covered entryway, the food service training space and much of the training technology.

We invite you to read about some of the people Kandu serves, view a brief video about our organization, or download our brochure to learn more.

And then we invite you to give from the heart, with the confidence that your dollars will provide the joy of work to hundreds of people in West Michigan who simply want to give their best.